It Ain't Gonna Be That Way the Complete Smash sessions is pretty essential methinks.Some of his early 70s stuff had me wondering if he was a conscious influence on Nick Cave, Tindersticks and a few others.

In 1966, when Charlie Rich was at a nadir in his career, Sy moved him to Hi Records, a small-time local studio, and Natalie brought Isaac Hayes in so Charlie could take a shot at one of his songs, “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby.” As Natalie recalls, the backing band was composed of legendary session players from Stax and Hi—the Memphis Horns, Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson, along with Tommy Cogbill on bass and Willie Hall on drums. Hayes sat next to Charlie at the piano and taught him the song before they recorded it in one take. For “Pass on By,” Sy Rosenberg himself blew a meandering trumpet solo in the background.

The Hayes track was never released

Just came across this track on Spotify right before reading this. Pretty sweet.

Is the RCA & Groove stuff as good as the Smash recordings? There was a 2cd put out by Ace at the start of the year which was called Too Many Teardrops: The Complete Groove & RCA Recordings. So I wonder if i need that as much as the Smash stuff.

I don't see a big difference in terms of quality between the two; if you like the Smash stud even half as much as I do then I strongly recommend that new CD (apparently there are a few bits on the new edition that I haven't heard so there may be a few duffers on it but I know most of it and it's gold IMO.)

Thanks for mentioning Too Many Teardrops! Hadn't heard of it. After a couple of listens, I've found it surprisingly easy to get used to the strings and choirs, although some Disc 2 incidents are still annoying, and maybe scale-tipping on the more dubious material---that's okay though; that's what he and/or the suits get for turdpolishing .like Elvis, Sinatra, Willie etc. he's found that he can effectively apply his signature sound to inferior imitations of his top-shelf line of goods, and so he does, and I admit there are at least partially redeeming moments in most(?) of the worse, though not worst, tracks. Not many of this last category though!A good number of the rolling piano jazz-blues-rock tracks I always favor, starting right off with "Big Boss Man," soon followed by "River Stay Away From My Door," later a very sassy "Ol' Man River," such as Jerry Lee might approve, then a more respectful vocal on "The Twelth of Never," though that beloved tearjerker now goes thunkin' along. Mercy!Also a couple of intriguing ballads written by Freddie Hart:"Too Many Teardrops" starts out feeling for a fella who lost his love to the narrator, yet"I did what any man would do"---emphasis on "man" because the cry guy wasn't "strong enough to play the losing hand"--crying and drinking yourself to death doesn't count as a well-played losing hand, so what does? Revenge, mebbe? Doesn't say.The other Hart-written track, "There Won't Be Any More, " has a terse lilt that somehow reminds me of some British Invasion tracks, like uhhh covers like "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"? But with more attitude.The Riches-written (lots of originals here) "The Grass Is Always Greener" advises that, "You may think you're rollin' in clover/But you better think it over." Shaddup with that, I must not think bad thoughts! The Complete Smash Sessions is the one to start with, but this is def worth checking out.